Brotherly Love

At the start, anyway, the Brothers Schenn in Philadelphia might not have the impact of the Brothers Staal in Carolina. But given where defenceman Luke and forward Brayden are in their respective careers, don’t rule it out eventually.

If you watched much of the Flyers in the post-season, you saw Brayden Schenn emerge as the type of big-bodied forward any team craves. His play was solid enough that James van Riemsdyk could be deemed expendable and as a result was sent to the Leafs in the deal that brought Luke the other way.

If you followed Luke Schenn’s career close enough, you realize that change was needed. Perhaps asked to do too much as an 18-year-old, he struggled too often here and the sky-high potential many held for him started to wane. It was clear, for example, that coach Randy Carlyle didn’t have much faith in Schenn as his minutes dropped drastically late last season.

So now they are reunited in Philadelphia, brothers who rooted each on from afar and can now do it in the same dressing room. And as Brayden said, it may be just what the big brother ordered.

“Luke is my best friend,” Brayden Schenn told the Philadelphia Daily News. “We are very tight, we talk every day.

“Toronto was really good to him, but he didn’t have the greatest season. He needed a fresh start. I think this will have a huge impact on my career. We push each other, and he knows just what to say to get me going.

“It’s been a dream since we were kids. We always wondered if we would get the chance. We’re just lucky enough to do it so early in our careers.”

Leafs Now

Settled in on the Maple Leafs beat for the past three seasons, Rob Longley has covered a wide variety of big events in his two decades at the Toronto Sun. From Super Bowls, to the Olympics, to soccer's World Cup, Longley gets around. An avid golfer in his spare time, Longley also writes his You Bet column during football season, delving into the ins and outs of sports wagering, another of his recreational pursuits. Lives in Burlington, Ont.

The 2011 CFL season marks Terry Koshan's fourth year on the Argonauts beat after several years covering the Maple Leafs, though he has kept a finger in that pie during the past few winters. Koshan has been working in the Sun sports department since September 1996. He has covered various sporting events, among them kick-boxing in Vaughan (where he was told to sit no closer than 10 rows to the ring, lest he be splashed by flying blood) the world junior hockey championship (watching Jonathan Toews' shootout tricks against the U.S. in Sweden in 2007 was a treat) and the Maple Leafs in St. John's, Nfld. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a Master of Arts in journalism, Koshan lives in Georgetown, Ont.

From the beginning the Toronto Sun’s team of hockey reporters and columnists have covered the Toronto Maple Leafs like no one else. In the Leafs Now blog, that expert team of writers take it to a new level, providing you with the inside stuff you need to know about your favourite hockey team.